title: Natural products - modifying metabolite pathways in plants.
abstract: The diversity of plant natural product (PNP) molecular structures is reflected in the variety of biochemical and genetic pathways that lead to their formation and accumulation. Plant secondary metabolites are important commodities, and include fragrances, colorants, and medicines. Increasing the extractable amount of PNP through plant breeding, or more recently by means of metabolic engineering, is a priority. The prerequisite for any attempt at metabolic engineering is a detailed knowledge of the underlying biosynthetic and regulatory pathways in plants. Over the past few decades, an enormous body of information about the biochemistry and genetics of biosynthetic pathways involved in PNPs production has been generated. In this review, we focus on the three large classes of plant secondary metabolites: terpenoids (or isoprenoids), phenylpropanoids, and alkaloids. All three provide excellent examples of the tremendous efforts undertaken to boost our understanding of biosynthetic pathways, resulting in the first successes in plant metabolic engineering. We further consider what essential information is still missing, and how future research directions could help achieve the rational design of plants as chemical factories for high-value products.
authors.affiliation: Technische Universität Darmstadt, Plant Biotechnology and Metabolic Engineering, Darmstadt, Germany.
authors.forename: Agata
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Staniek
authors.forename: Harro
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bouwmeester
authors.forename: Paul D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Fraser
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kayser
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Martens
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tissier
authors.forename: Sander
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: van der Krol
authors.forename: Ludger
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wessjohann
authors.forename: Heribert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Warzecha
mesh_terms: D000470:Alkaloids / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D001688:Biological Products / Q000145:classification / Q000378:metabolism*; D053898:Biosynthetic Pathways / Q000235:genetics; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D005818:Genetic Engineering / Q000379:methods; D060847:Metabolic Engineering; D010944:Plants / Q000378:metabolism*; D058615:Synthetic Biology; D013729:Terpenes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000470:Alkaloids; D001688:Biological Products; D005419:Flavonoids; D013729:Terpenes
keywords: Alkaloids; Isoprenoids; Metabolic engineering; Phenylpropanoids; Plant natural products